8:40 p.m. (MDT) -- Halftime: Louisville 44, Boise State 31

Boise State is shooting 50 percent, but the Broncos are struggling to hold onto the ball against Louisville's pressure. And not just the full-court variety.

The Cardinals' constant ball pressure means the Broncos are starting their offense farther away from the basket and their 3-pointers are a bit deeper, too.

Louisville is just so explosive. Boise State cut the lead to 18-15 with 11:21 remaining and, you thought, OK, this might be a game. Wrong.

Louisville scored the game's next 10 points and 12 of the next 14. Just too much for the Broncos' soft defense to handle.

7:53 p.m. (MDT) -- The public address announcer just introduced Matt Bauscher as from Caldwell, INDIANA. Ouch.

Good sign in crowd: Yes, we play basketball, too.

7:51 p.m. (MDT) -- I'd say the crowd is 4-to-1 in favor of Louisville, maybe 5-to-1.

The Broncos are basically playing another road game. Boise State is 12-3 on the road.

7:45 p.m. (MDT) -- The winner of the game between Louisville and Boise State will play Oklahoma, which defeated St. Joe's.

Best sign (so far): Reggie Larry wears glass slippers.

7:41 p.m. (MDT) -- Tip-off is set for 7:48 p.m.

The Louisville fans will hold an advantage without a doubt. Birmingham is just 366 miles from Louisville, less than a six-hour drive.

6:36 p.m. (MDT) -- Boise State has arrived at the arena. The players are watching a little bit of the Oklahoma-St. Joe's game.

5:21 p.m. (MDT) -- Today's 6 will air a 30-minute Boise State basketball special tonight at 6:30 p.m. Boise time. I will appear.

Consider yourself warned.

5:03 p.m. (MDT) -- Sorry for the delays in getting the blog posted. I have been chasing news about Idaho's new basketball coach for much of the break.

(And I did watch the end of the San Diego-Connecticut game. Almost impossible for me to say or type San Diego without thinking about "Anchorman.")

Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said there is a press conference scheduled for Monday evening and a press release coming this evening.

Leave it to the Vandals to hire a basketball coach on a Friday afternoon during the NCAA Tournament, especially a tournament that Boise State, Washington State and Gonzaga are all participating in. The news is likely to get buried in every paper and sports cast around the state and region.

4:00 p.m. (MDT) -- After Butler connected on 15-of-30 3-point tries, someone asked Butler guard A.J. Graves about the rims here in Birmingham in the post-game press conference. Pete Campbell made 8-of-10 long-distance shots.

"I don't think Pete's shots hit the rim actually, so I don't know about the rim on his part," Graves said.

The Bulldogs have played on several neutral courts throughout the year, including in Alaska and Indianapolis.

3:08 p.m. (MDT) -- The games in Birmingham have not sold out. Tickets are still available for tonight's session.

Quick, get on a plane.

3:06 p.m. (MDT) -- Joe Lunardi of ESPN Bracketology fame is in the house. Lunardi, in his day job, works at St. Joe's and calls Hawks' games on the radio.

3:01 p.m. (MDT) -- Boise State's chances to pull off the upset tonight rest largely on their guards, especially point guard Anthony Thomas.

Thomas, a sophomore, has been somewhat inconsistent this year. On the season, Thomas has 137 assists and 89 turnovers. He leads the team in both categories. Thomas also leads the team in steals with 48.

Thomas will have his hands full tonight, trying to navigate through the Louisville press.

I would expect the Cardinals to let Thomas try to beat them with his outside shot. Thomas is shooting 33.0 percent from 3-point range this season. Not bad, but not great either, especially on a team with four shooters making more than 40 percent of their 3-point attempts.

The Broncos are best when Thomas is running the show. Not when he is trying to be the show.

2:43 p.m. (MDT) -- Damn. Was writing a note about Tennessee and it occurred to me. The band is going to be playing "Rocky Top" in the hotel lobby on Sunday morning. Another unplanned wake-up call.

2:38 p.m. (MDT) -- A good sign for Boise State?

Shooters are having a good day at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Butler's Pete Campbell has made eight 3-pointers already.

The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half.

Tennessee's JaJuan Smith went 4-for-8 from 3-point range. And American's Garrison Carr was 6-of-15 from beyond the arc.

Chris Lofton, however, was 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Lofton, an All-American, had a poor day all around. He was 1-for-7 from the floor and had three turnovers and no assists.

That Tennessee was able to advance with that kind of effort from its star guard surely bodes well for the Volunteers.

2:24 p.m. (MDT) -- Expected starting lineup for Louisville:

G Jerry Smith, No. 34 (6-1, 200, soph.) — Leads the Cardinals in steals and 3-pointers. Scores 10.4 points per game.

G Andre McGee, No. 33 (5-10, 180, jr.) — Leads the team in 3-point percentage (40.9 percent). Only starter averaging less than 10 points per game.

F Terrence Williams, No. 1 (6-6, 215, jr.) — Plays 36 minutes per game, a team high. Leads the team in assists and is second in scoring and rebounding.

F Earl Clark, No. 5 (6-9, 220, soph.) — Averages 10.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Leads team in rebounds. Has nine double-doubles and leads the team in blocked shots.

C David Padgett, No. 4 (6-11, 250, sr.) — Leads balanced team in scoring (11.7) and is a gifted passer.

Names to know on the bench:

F Juan Palacios, No. 3 (6-8, 250, sr.) — Three-year starter now comes off the bench. Scored 29 points in a game against Connecticut in 2006. Missed time with a knee injury earlier in the year.

G Edgar Sosa, No. 10 (6-1, 180, soph.) — Scored 31 points against Texas A&M last year, so he can fill it up. Shot better last year.

F Derrick Caracter, (6-8, 250, soph.) — Lost more than 50 pounds since arriving on campus. Still a powerful low-post presence.

1:49 p.m. (MDT) -- One last thing about Louisville center David Padgett. When he decided to transfer from Kansas, there was only one place for him: Wherever Rick Pitino was coaching. Padgett had spurned Pitino in high school.

"I couldn't turn down the opportunity to play for him twice," Padgett said.

1:21 p.m. (MDT) -- Louisville senior center David Padgett (6-foot-11, 250) missed 10 games earlier this year with a broken kneecap.

It was the latest in a string of injuries for Padgett, a Reno, Nev., product who began his college career at Kansas before transferring to Louisville. During all three seasons at Louisville, Padgett has battled some ailment.

He suffered a broken right kneecap against Jackson State on Nov. 18. Louisville coach Rick Pitino thought Padgett's season was over and said so publicly.

Once rehab began, however, Padgett knew he would be back.

"I knew I'd be back before everybody expected," he said.

Padgett returned to the lineup on Jan. 1 against Cincinnati, a 58-57 loss. The Cardinals were 9-4 and many felt underachieving.

But with Padgett and forward Juan Palacios (knee) back in the lineup, Louisville got hot. The Cardinals went 8-0 in February.

"Most of it was being healthy and having everybody playing," Padgett said. "It's hard to have a team playing on all cylinders when certain guys aren't practicing certain days. The fact that everybody was able to practice every day made a huge difference."

Padgett brought more to the court than just his team-high 11.7 points and terrific passing.

"You could hear David’s voice and him pushing people around and leadership starting to come out of him," said forward Terrence Williams.

Padgett earns high praise, too, from Boise State coach Greg Graham, who called the center one of the best-passing big men in the country.

"He's awfully good and he makes them go," Graham said. "... He's one of those guys that may have some deficiencies or whatever for the next level, but he's a guy that makes his teammates better. And those are the kind of guys that you look for."

1:19 p.m. (MDT) -- Drake is out. My bracket is crushed. Great.

12:49 p.m. (MDT) -- Nick Jezierny asked a great question: "Why didn't American's band play 'We're an American Band?'"

It's by Grand Funk Railroad — to save you a Google search.

12:43 p.m. (MDT) -- The Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader wrote a story about Boise State basketball trying to make a splash like the Broncos' football team has done.

12:34 p.m. (MDT) -- An observant reader from Boise (and long-time Turf fan) pointed out that I left KBOI out of the list of media that has traveled with the Broncos this season. It has been corrected.

12:31 p.m. (MDT) -- Classy move by American coach Jeff Jones. He just emptied his bench in the final seconds so that everyone of his players can say they played in an NCAA Tournament game.

12:11 p.m. (MDT) -- You can just feel the throng of Tennessee fans getting a bit tight. Everyone else — the Butler fans, the South Alabama fans — is rooting against the Vols.

All the orange-clad fans (and there are a lot of them) are sort of sitting nervously.

For the record, just four No. 15 seeds have beaten No. 2 seeds.

1991: Richmond def. Syracuse

1993: Santa Clara (with Steve Nash) def. Arizona

1997: Coppin State def. South Carolina

2001: Hampton def. Iowa State

No. 15 seeds were 4-92 all-time in the NCAA Tournament before this year's event. No. 15 Belmont lost to No. 2 Duke yesterday, moving the record to 4-93.

11:52 a.m. (MDT) -- Hope those American fans I watched the Selection Show with Sunday in the Denver airport are watching this. And having a great time.

11:48 a.m. (MDT) -- Could Birmingham be upset-ville? No. 15 seed American is giving No. 2 Tennessee all the Vols can handle in the early game.

No. 10 South Alabama should have a homecourt edge against No. 7 Butler. To me, No. 11 St. Joe's is only a slight underdog against No. 6 Oklahoma. And then there's Boise State.

"We want to go out there and show we can play with anybody. Not only do we want to play with them, we want to win the game," reserve forward Mark Sanchez said. "All the doubters who doubted us, we want to show them that we can play with any team."

10:58 a.m. (MDT) -- Guesstimate: The Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena is about 80-20 in favor of Tennessee. Knoxville is only 257 miles from Birmingham.

But the American fans, many of them wearing matching blue T-shirts, are making a ton of noise.

10:56 a.m. (MDT) -- Obligatory NCAA.com link.

10:53 a.m. (MDT) -- The Louisville Courier-Journal wrote a story on Boise State senior Tyler Tiedeman.

Favorite quote from Tiedeman: "I hadn't played basketball in over a year," he said, "and I probably drank a few too many beers at Arizona, too."

10:25 a.m. (MDT) -- FOX Sports is reporting that Utah State assistant Don Verlin will be named Idaho men's basketball coach on Monday night.

That's the name we have been hearing all along since the Vandals fired George Pfeifer on Tuesday.

Messages left with Verlin and Idaho have not been returned.

10:02 a.m. (MDT) -- The Boise State bench has largely been underutilized this season, as coach Greg Graham has played his five starters extensive minutes.

All five starters are averaging more than 28 minutes per game and no bench player is averaging more than Jamar Greene's 15 minutes per game.

But Graham — and the bench — believe the reserves will have to play a larger role in tonight's game against No. 3-seeded Louisville.

The Cardinals have eight players averaging more than 18 minutes per game and just one (6-foot-6 junior forward Terrence Williams) averaging more than 29 minutes. Williams is logging an incredible 36 minutes per game.

Louisville's depth, along with the Cardinals' pressing style and the intensity of the NCAA Tournament, means the Broncos might need to go a little deeper.

"The bench is huge in the tournament. You don't know what's going to happen and you need lots of people to play. Some guys are going to be on. Some are going to be off. You're going to see things you haven't seen before just ’cause you're playing different teams. You see which group clicks, which individual is having a good day and go from there," Graham said.

Aaron Garner saved the Broncos in the WAC Tournament against Utah State. Will anyone step up tonight?

The Turf's guess: Mark Sanchez. A big guy who can rebound, shoot from the outside and handle the basketball against pressure could be pretty valuable against the Cardinals.

"It's going to come down to the bench to give our guys a good breather and go in there and contribute as much as possible. That's been the story of the season, that contribution," Sanchez said. "When we've done that, we've been successful."

9:43 a.m. (MDT) -- The point of the blog today is to get you prepped for tonight's Boise State game against Louisville.

So I'll be posting numerous times today. Random thoughts. Mini-features. Position breakdowns. You name it. And let me know what you want.

The blog will taper off around tip-off since I figure most of you will be watching the game — and because I have to write a column for the paper.

9:40 a.m. (MDT) -- Nothing like being woken up by a college band playing "Rocky Top" in the hotel lobby. That was about 8:30 local time. I guess it was time to get up. Sign No. 1 that you know you're in the South.

Tennessee is playing the first game today in Birmingham — and the media hotel is doubling as the Volunteers' hotel.

Sign No. 2: While walking to the arena — a pleasant 5-minute walk — for the NCAA basketball tournament the Turf overheard the following statement: "If Saban could get the job done, for all the money they are paying him."

Alabama and SEC football matters most in this town. I don't care how many basketball tournaments are taking place.

Thursday, March 20

8:47 p.m. (MDT) -- Watched Duke barely escape Belmont in the first-round. Lucky Devils.

Been a rather quiet day as far as upsets go. Yes, No. 11 Kansas State did beat No. 6 USC. But that's it. Maybe that bodes well for Boise State on Friday or maybe it means that upsets in the tourney have gone the way of the dinosaur.

While doing some research earlier today, the Turf discovered that in last year's tournament there were just three "upsets."

The NCAA defines upsets as "when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated."

So K-State's win would count.

In 2007, only No. 11 Winthrop over No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth over Duke and No. 7 UNLV over No. 2 Wisconsin counted as upsets.

In 2006 — with No. 11 George Mason leading the way — there were 11 upsets. In 2005, there were seven.

The 2007 total of three was the lowest since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

8:43 p.m. (MDT) -- Spoke with Idaho Stampede assistant coach Ray Lopes this evening and he said the University of Idaho has contacted him about its basketball position.

Lopes has not set up an interview and is not even sure if the school considers him a candidate, but he is (very?) interested in the position. Gotten a chance to know him during his two years with the Stampede, and Lopes wants badly to become a college coach again.

The back story: An assistant under Kelvin Sampson, Lopes ran into his own NCAA problems with telephone calls at Fresno State. The NCAA imposed a three-year "show cause" penalty, which basically prevented him from getting another gig, in 2005. The penalty expired Monday.

6:35 p.m. (MDT) -- I'll be posting a few more times tonight, but be sure to keep an eye on the blog tomorrow. Since Boise State doesn't play until late Friday, I'll have plenty of time to dissect the Boise State-Louisville game on the blog.

6:32 p.m. (MDT) -- Boise State just completed its public practice at BJCC Arena. The Broncos' main goal was to get in a lot of shooting. The "shooter's eye" — the area behind the basket or what a shooter sees when he shoots — at BJCC is pretty different than Taco Bell Arena or other WAC arenas. It's a lot deeper.

The Broncos ended their light practice with a half-court shot contest. Aaron Garner made his first.

4:13 p.m. (MDT) -- Nick Jezierny and I will be on Today's 6 during the 6 p.m. broadcast. Consider yourselves warned.

4:07 p.m. (MDT) -- Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl made a name for himself in 2005 with No. 12 seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He took the Panthers to the Sweet 16, beating Alabama and Boston College.

That run landed Pearl a job at Tennessee, where he has taken the Volunteers to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

"I would still be on that bus someplace, traveling to a Division II tournament," Pearl said if not for his success as a double-digit seed.

There is no better way for a coach to make a name for himself than pulling off a couple upsets in the NCAA Tournament.

If the Broncos were to win a game or two in this year's tourney, I would expect Greg Graham to get a few phone calls.

Note: Graham and Boise State defeated Pearl and UW-Milwaukee in the 2005 NIT. The game was played at the Idaho Center.

4:03 p.m. (MDT) -- Louisville's players are wearing T-shirts that say "Believe in We" on the front and "March is Brotherhood" on the back.

The Turf loves the slogans that teams adopt this time of year.

What is February? Sisterhood? Parenthood? The ’Hood.

3:59 p.m. (MDT) -- Louisville players and coach Rick Pitino just finished with their media time at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex arena.

Wow, that's a mouthful.

Lots of questions about Louisville's two-game losing streak. Hard to feel too bad about losing to Georgetown and Pittsburgh, that was basically the Cardinals' take.

3:07 p.m. (MDT) -- No. 14 seeds are 17-92 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Fifteen No. 14 seeds have won a first-round game. Boise State, seeded 14th in the East Region, is hoping to add its name to that list against No.3 Louisville on Friday.

Here's a list of the No. 14 seeds who have won first-round games:

2006: Northwestern State def. Iowa 64-63

2005: Bucknell def. Kansas 64-63

1999: Weber State def. North Carolina 56-53

1998: Ricmond def. South Carolina 62-61

1997: Chattanooga def. Georgia 73-70

1995: Weber State def. Michigan State 79-72

1995: Old Dominion def. Villanova 89-81 (3 OT)

1992: East Tennessee State def. Arizona 87-80

1991: Xavier def. Nebraska 89-84

1990: Northern Iowa def. Missouri 74-71

1989: Siena def. Stanford 80-78

1988: Murray State def. North Carolina State 78-75

1987: Austin Peay def. Illinois 68-67

1986: Cleveland State def. Indiana 83-79

1986: Arkansas-Little Rock def. Notre Dame 90-83

Chattanooga (1997) and Cleveland State (1986) are the only No. 14 seeds to win second-round games.

3:02 p.m. (MDT) -- If the Turf were petty, it might point out the sudden interest from Boise-area media in the Broncos' basketball team.

In addition to the Idaho Statesman, reporters from the Idaho Press Tribune, the Arbiter (Boise State's student newspaper), Today's 6, KTVB and KBCI are in Birmingham.

Only the Statesman, the Press Tribune and KTVB attended the WAC Tournament.

The Statesman was the only media outlet that traveled with the team during the regular season.

But the Turf is not petty.

Note: -- The Turf stands corrected: KBOI, which broadcasts the Broncos' games, has also traveled with the team all year.

2:58 p.m. (MDT) -- The Turf just paid $33 for two days' worth of Internet. Sure the bosses are going to be real happy about that.

You'd think that the NCAA would work out a better Internet situation at the arenas. And the hotel, for that matter. If you're going to be a media hotel, wouldn't you want to be helpful to the media. Like free Internet?

No, it's $13 bucks a day at the hotel.

Enough complaining.

1:56 p.m. (MDT) -- Reggie Larry's hometown paper, the Newark Star-Ledger, did a feature on the Bronco star.

1:21 p.m. (MDT) -- The Turf keeps hearing that Utah State assistant Don Verlin is going be Idaho's next coach. With the Aggies out of the NIT Tournament — thanks to Thursday night's loss to Illinois State — it could happen soon. Like Monday soon.

1:15 p.m. (MDT) -- It was quite an adventure trying to get to Boise State's early practice at Mountain Brook High School just outside of Birmingham.

You might recognize the name of the school. It's where Natalee Holloway, who disappeared while on spring break in Aruba, attended high school.

Trying to navigate through the beautiful wooded neighborhood surrounding the school was next to impossible. But the Turf made it.

And what the Turf found was a very loose, eager Boise State basketball team. The Broncos were ready to get going and practicing at a very high tempo.

Wednesday, March 19

9:08 p.m. (MDT) -- A little news: Talked to Idaho athletic director Rob Spear today from the Charlotte airport. I was in Charlotte. No telling where Spear was since he plans on conducting four interviews Thursday and Friday concerning the vacant Idaho men's coaching position.

I think that might rule out some assistants with NCAA or even NIT teams. Assistants are extremely busy this time of year, breaking down game film on short notice. I find it hard to believe one would interview for a job while trying to do that.

That could mean that Spear is focused on coaches who are available immediately. Two names that have popped up that fit are former San Diego coach Brad Holland and former Wyoming coach Steve McClain.

“I want the right fit for he University of Idaho. I want someone that has a winning mentality, someone that can recruit to our area. I want them to have the energy and be a blue-collar type of worker,” Spear said.

Just a hunch: Keep an eye on McClain, now a Colorado assistant who reportedly showed interest in the position in 2006. He went 157-115 in nine seasons with Wyoming, including four postseason appearances.

9:04 p.m. (MDT) -- Final stop: Birmingham.

We made it. Four time zone in one day. Getting settled in. And will be posting often for the next four days, trying to give everyone back in the Treasure Valley and Idaho a sense of what is happening down here.

Verne Lundquist, who will call the game for CBS along with Bill Raftery, hopped in a limo while I was waiting for the airport shuttle. Ah, the perks of television.

I grew up in the Southeast and so there is a certain sense of home about coming back here, a familiarity. The Southern accents, the friendliness, the sweet tea.

I will be covering my fourth NCAA Tournament — having been assigned to North Carolina in 2000, Georgia Tech in 2004 and 2005 and now Boise State in 2008. It's one of my favorite events of the entire year.

5:02 p.m. (MDT) -- Still in Charlotte, waiting for our plane to Birmingham, Ala.

I wanted to pass along another link, this one from ESPN.com's Pat Forde. Forde has definitely been a believer in the Broncos, especially the football team, throughout the years.

But he thinks the best Boise State can do against Louisville is make it very uncomfortable for the No. 3-seeded Cardinals.

2:53 p.m. (MDT) -- Next stop: Charlotte, N.C.

Sorry for the bad link to the Courier-Journal story. It has been fixed.

Time to settle in for some BBQ, North Carolina style.

9:35 a.m. (MDT) -- Here is another breakdown of the Broncos' NCAA opener against Louisville:

Louisville Courier-Journal: Cards braced for 'carbon copy' of BYU

9:26 a.m. (MDT) -- First stop: Phoenix.

Free airport wireless. Sweet.

Came across this pretty good breakdown of Boise State on an "unofficial Louisville blog."

6:42 a.m. -- Some quick thoughts while en route to the NCAA men's basketball tournament in Birmingham.

We asked every Boise State player for his memories about the NCAA Tournament and what he's looking forward to most about this year's trip. Take a listen. Each file is about 30 seconds.

• The Spokesman (Spokane) Review gave a list of possible candidates for Idaho's now-vacant basketball position: former Utah and Eastern Washington coach and current Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti; WSU assistant Matt Woodley; former San Diego coach Brad Holland; Portland State coach Ken Bone, whose team won the Big Sky Conference tournament and opens against top-seeded Kansas in the NCAA tournament; Southern California assistant and former College of Southern Idaho coach Gib Arnold; and former Wyoming coach and Colorado assistant Steve McClain.

Click here for the entire story.

• Quick thoughts on George Pfeifer's firing:

1. I'm sure Rob Spear has his reasons, but firing a coach after two seasons seems a bit quick, especially given the Vandals' progress toward the end of the year.

2. I hope Spear has a replacement ready to go because another long, drawn out process — where candidates publicly turn down the Vandals — would not be good.

3. Doesn't women's coach Mike Divilbiss have to go too?

• The blog will be traveling much of the day, but be sure to check back for updates throughout the NCAA Tournament.